Device for demonstrating fractions and decimal equivalents



United States Patent DEVICEFOR DEMONSTRATING nRAcrroNs AND DECIMAL EQUIVALENrs,

David Helberg, Skokie, Ill. Application May 6, 1958, Serial No. 733,293

4 claims. i (Cl. .as-31) This inventionV relates toa simplified device for use in the instruction of youngstudents in arithmetic fractions and decimalrequivalents. More particularly,` it is directedV to a device which can be inexpensively manufacf tured and, therefore, made available to an entire class of grade school students at a veryssmall cost. Specifically, the present invention concerns a dev ice which can be employed to graphically demonstrate 'the meaning and application of fractionalY parts of the whole.

For some reason, not entirely understood even by those actively engagedl the teaching profession, the vfractional parts of a whoe numberrcause an amount of difficulty on the part-of the student'quite'out of proportion to the actual complexities involved. Thus, in the middle grades of grammar school where the student is first confronted with the concept of adding and subtracting fractions from one another and from Whole numbers, a considerable im` passe is often presented to the teacher because of an inability to demonstrate thejsignificance and interrelationship of these fractional parts. One of the principal difli culties is lthe problem of different denominators in a series of fractions which areto be added Yor subtracted.

As is well known, before addition or subtraction of fractions is performed, it is most desirable that all of the fractions be reduced to a common denominator. Thus, for example, if a student were presented with the problem of adding therfollowing fractions:

the problem might appear almost insurmountable to one of ,-av youngage unless all of the denominators were reduced to the lowest common figure by which all of them are divisible. Thus, the lowest common denominator of the four'fractions above is'obviously l2; and if the above four fractions were modfied to read in terms of V12, the problem would immediately become substantially simpler and would appear as follows:

The same problem existsv with other fractions wherein denominators other than those illustrated above are encountered.

2,926,432 Patented Mar. 1, 1960 ICC 2 Fig. 2 is vanother plan view of the device after the twelve hinged u nits have been swung back to an angle of about 150 from their position in Figure 1 to reveal the base member which in Figure 1 is obscured thereby; Fig. 3 isa fragmentary plan viewrsimilar to Figure 1 and Fig. 2 showing only three of the hinged units swung back and with the remainder of the units again lyingflat ron the base member; and

, Fig. 4 is a sectional,side elevation view taken along 4-4 in Fig. 3 but with second and thirdvhinged units fanned away from the first to show that each unit is separately hinged andindependently movable.

Briey described, the device of the present invention consists of a base member fashioned from any suitable material of construction, such as plastic, wood, cardboard or the like; which is, for example, 12 inches in length, about IV. inches in width and Ma inch in thickness. On the base member is printed in the manner shown in the drawingsand hereinafter discussed in detail various fractional equivalents in selected locations on the base member such that upon folding back two or more of the series of 12 units hingedly affixed to the edge vof the base member, theV appropriate fractional equivalent corresponding to the number of hinged units lifted from the face of the base member is revealed.

.Referring nowA to the drawingsl in which aV consistent numbering system is used to designate the various parts in all four figures,`an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown whereinabase member A, has hinged thereto along one edge a series of twelve identicallysized units numbered yconsecutively in Figure l and designated as B, which are adapted 'to liel flat on base member A, as shown in Figure 1, or t'o be swung back as shown in the `other figures.

The utility of the device and its function of theprinted indicia thereon is believed to be best understood in terms of actual examples of its use for instruction ofryorung An object of the present invention is to provide a de.

vice whereby any series of fractions can be visually observed in relation to the whole.

A further object is to provide a simple device having a minimum of moving parts which will enable a youngster to better understand the significance and relationship of the fractional parts of whole numbers. These and additional objects and advantages will become apparent Aas the ensuing description proceeds in connection with the children in the science of arithmetic fractions.

i i Example I A student is requested to convert 2K2 to its Vlowest common denominator and to state its decimal equivalent. Holding the device, as it appears in Figure 1 but with the hinges away from him, he proceeds to lip the first three hinged units -B back away from contact with base member A. When this has been accomplished the device appears as shown fragmentarily in Fig. 3. By observing where the heavyv line C on the base member lines up with the edge of the fourth unit, Le., the one which is still lying flat, the student knows immediately which of the rows or groups of numbers is applicable to his problem. In this particular case it will beA readily observed the row of numbers W12=l/4=.25=25% is that which is bounded by the left-hand side of the ruler and the heavy line C. Thus, the students not only obtain the answer but visually observe that 3/12 make up l@ or 25% of the whole device.

Example Il Another typical ing fractions problemis the addition of the follow- D in the upper row on the base member A can then be seen:

and he immediately recognizes that QL-3%. The addition of to obtain or l11/2 then follows Simply.

While the present invention has been described with respect to particular dimensions and 12 hingedl units, it will, of course,` be understood that it may be any size and contain any logical number'of hinged units. Thus, the device could range in size from smaller than that described to one sufficiently large to use'in front of a class or even larger. Likewise, depending upon the fractional equivalents which are being studied the number of units hinged thereto may be varied over a considerable range. v

Thus, for explaining the metric system a device of this type with 10 or 100 hinged units is highly useful. And if the fractional parts of an inc h are being studied, the number of units could be 16, 32, 64, etc., and the printed indicia would be appropriately modified to correspond.

The preferred material of construction is a stiff plastic, for example, polystyrene, and the hinge construction may be as shown or modified by the use of a suitable plastic binder of the type employed on notebooks, etc. lt will be understood that the present invention does not reside in selection of material of construction or the particular hinging system.

The printed indicia may, of course, be placed on the surfaces of the device by any suitable means. Silk screen processing has been found especially useful on plastics such as polystyrene.

As may be seen in the illustrative embodiment of Fig. l, when the twelve hinged units are lying tiat against the base member the device may be employed as a ruler or straight edge. Since the hinging system may result 'in some irregularity along that edge the opposite edge therefrom is more desirably employed for that purpose.

Having thus described my invention, what I'claim as novel and desire to protect by Letters Patent is as follows: v

I claim as my invention:

1. A device for aiding in the instruction of students in the relationship and significance of the fractional parts of a whole number to the whole number-Which comprises, in combination, a planar base member representing the whole number and having at least one printable surface thereon, a plurality of units hingedly connected to said base member along an edge thereof, each of said units being adapted to substantially y obscure the said printable surface of said base member contiguous thereto when pivoted into contact therewith, said printable surface Ihaving displayed thereon at locations corresponding to the linear distance along said base member at which the same appear a series of fractional equivalents corresponding to the number of hinged units affixed thereto.

2. A device for aiding in the instruction of students in the relationship of arithmetical fractions to the whole number which comprises, in combination, a planar base member having at least one printable surface thereon which represents the whole number, a plurality of coverplates hingedly aflixed to said base member along the same edge thereof and adapted to swing into Contact with said base member, thereby obscuring the portion of said base member contiguous thereto,and a printed indicia on the surface of said rbase member contiguous to said cover-plates adapted .to display the fractional equivalents of the whole number as the said cover-plates are consecutively swung away from contact with said base member, said fractional equivalent appearing on said printed surface of said base member at locations corresponding to the linear distance along said base member when the same appear.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the base member is l2 inches in length and there are l2 cover-plates of one inch width hingedly connected thereto.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein the printed indicia includes fractional equivalents in terms of twelfths, Sixths, fourths and thirds adapted to correspond to the number of hinged cover-plates contiguous thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 629,891 Cunningham Aug. 1, 1899 2,826,829 Koons Mar. 18, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS` 312,239 Switzerland Feb. 29, 1956 

